muck

1 of 2

noun

ˈmək 

1

: soft moist farmyard manure

2

: slimy dirt or filth

3

a

: defamatory remarks or writings

b

: rubbish, nonsense

mindless muck

4

a(1)

: dark highly organic soil

(2)

: mire, mud

b

: something resembling muck : gunk

5

: material removed in the process of excavating or mining

muck

2 of 2

verb

mucked; mucking; mucks

transitive verb

1

a

: to clean up

especially : to clear of manure or filth

—usually used with out

b

: to clear of muck

2

: to dress (something, such as soil) with muck

3

: to dirty with or as if with muck : soil

intransitive verb

1

: to move or load muck (as in a mine)

2

a

: to engage in aimless activity

—usually used with about or around

b

: putter, tinker

—usually used with about or around

mucking around with his computer

c

: interfere, meddle

—usually used with about or around

mucker noun

Synonyms

Noun

• dirt
• soil
• sludge
• sewage
• filth
• garbage

Verb

• stain
• dirty
• mess
• soil
• muddy
• blacken
• mire

Examples of muck in a Sentence

Noun

Clean that muck off your shoes.

spattered with muck from the pigpen

Verb

you can't work in the garden and not expect to muck your clothes

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

And yet Payton’s offense, which has often asked Nix to do too much in long-down situations, didn’t ask him to do much as both teams rolled in the muck Sunday. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025

When work is happening, enough sediment is stirred up that water can run discolored for about 24 hours after the process has been completed until the muck all settles out. —Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 6 Oct. 2025

Verb

Spencer said that vibe came out of a band — which has been filled with Tweedy family pals including members of Finom — at liberty to muck about with the arrangements. —Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 12 Oct. 2025

When one such encounter took place at Montreal’s Bell Centre over the weekend, a hulking defenseman in the Senators’ system was unafraid to muck it up. —Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English muk, perhaps from Old English -moc; akin to Old Norse myki dung

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing muck

• high-muck-a-muck
• high-muckety-muck
• make a muck of (something)
• muck about/around
• muck about/around with
• muck-a-muck
• muckety-muck
• muck in
• muck out
• muck up
• mucky-muck

Rhymes for muck

• chuck
• cluck
• duck
• huck
• luck
• pluck
• puck
• ruck
• schmuck
• shuck
• snuck
• struck

Kids Definition

muck

1 of 2 noun

ˈmək

1

: soft moist barnyard manure

2

: dirt sense 1, filth

3

a

: dark rich soil

b

: mud, mire

mucky

ˈmək-ē

adjective

muck

2 of 2 verb

1

: to clean up

especially : to clear of manure or filth

2

: to dress with muck

3

: to dirty with or as if with muck